in the 24 hours since, hundreds of thousands of people talked about that on twitter, i'm proud to announce that our website, we have over 20,000 signatures urging governor patrick to appoint this man to the senate. >> the committee is an effective force in her campaign. the governor has to take notice of what you are doing. >> we are committed to ensuring that governor patrick has two strong bold progressives in his state. and he needs to know that bold progressives in massachusetts and the country are depending on him. and they are letting him know their opinion. >> appointbarneyfrank.com.

thanks. >> thank you. >> the ed show is up next. >> hi noon on gun control. let's play "hardball." let me start with this, new school shooting in california that's left a 16-year-old in critical condition. the national rifle association meeting with vice president's task force today cried when he called restrictions on lawful gun owners, tax-paying, working hard mirns and even being honest have to do with this country's

failure to keep fast-firing, high capacity guns from the hands of the mentally or emotionally disturbed. if we can't do that woult arousing the call to arms the nra. those who want to keep the scariest guns from the scariest people? or those who want to make it easy as possible for the scariest people to get the scariest guns. what side are you on, mr. and mrs. america? we begin with governor dan maloy of connecticut. governor, thank you so much. >> talk about it, what it means to be the governor of a state that saw the newtown horror. >> well, listen, it changes your life. i had to be there on the 14th. i actually had to tell a bunch of parents and adults that their loved ones were not coming back. and that's a life-changing experience. and then to go to funeral after funeral of babies over the course of a week is also life-changing. but having said all of that,

we've got to do something about violence and something about the proliferation of these high-impact guns that really have no other real use tlan to kill someone. that's what they're designed for. a young man can walk into a school and set himself up to kill as many people as he possibly can and ultimately die as was planned. these are circumstances and events that should alter our view in america. we should do everything we can toik make ourselves safer. i mean, for instance, in the 1930s, because machine guns had fallen in the hands of criminals, we decided nobody should have a machine gun. we could make practical decisions and pass practical laws where most people would

agree let's get that done. let's get rid of these magazines. no one should be able to buy any guns in america without a background check: it's pretty simple stuff. we do background checks for just about everything. >> who's coming at you? >> my state is pretty aggressive. but here's a big problem for us. people from connecticut buy guns in our center cities, our inner cities, that have been transported here, having been purchased at gun shows where there's no background check and very little record-keeping in places like florida and virginia and they work their way up, 95, as they do, by the way, go right through d.c. and some of them jump off there as well. let's just close this. let's just decide some people

should have guns and some people shouldn't have guns. but if you're not checking everything, then you're not really controlling that. you're just playing a game. in connecticut, you can't buy a gun without a license. but most places, you can. most americans agree that people should have a background check before they buy a gun. most americans agree that these high-magazines, these magazines of 30 shots don't make any sense. no one is juzing them in deer hunting, i can assure you. so let's do those things that we can have a common agreement, that make common sense that most americans agree on. >> let's hear from the vice president. here he is today holding hearings and meeting with women gun owners and the nra and,

tonight, with the entertainment industry. this morning, he said he'll have proposals by next tuesday. let's hear what he had to say. joe biden. >> there's a real, very tight window to do this. i committed to him i'd have these recommendations to them by tuesday. it doesn't mean it's the end of the discussion, but the public wants us to act. >> the v.p. also hinted at the consensus he's found in previous meetings. educators and gun safety advocates. here's what he talked about. >> there is a surprising, so far, a surprising recurrence of suggestions that we have universal background checks. not just close the gun, show a loophole but total universal background checks. there's also a good deal of talk

about gun safety and what responsibility goes along with gun ownership. >> i've never heard as much about high capacity magazines as i've heard spontaneously that we've heard from every group we've met with so far. >> governor maloy, he's speaking your language, it sounds like. >> i don't want to go into details of it, although some of the details that he just played are what he's talking about. there is more agreement on this amongst many americans. when you say you want gun control, then it gets confusing. when you say should we limit high capacity rounds? the answer is yes. should anyone be able to buy a gun without a background check? the answer is no. people get it now. we've had a shooting today. we're going to have more shootings in the future. we have to destigmatize mental

illness. the reality is that most people who experience some form of mental illness recover from it. we can protect ourselves from treating our fellow human beings better at least on this mental health issue and destigmatize it. >> as i mentioned a moment ago, the nra released a statement following its meeting with the vice president. and it reads, in part, we were disapointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the second amendment, while claiming that no policy proposals would be pre-judged, they spent most of their time on proposed restrictions on lawful firearm owners. honest, tax paying, hard-working americans. we will not allow law-abiding

workers to be blamed for the acts of criminals. we will take it to members of congress of both parties who were interested in having an honest conference about what works and what does not. i'm serious about that. you know that. howard, by the way, thank you for coming on tonight. it seems like there's a common sense guy, joe biden is a common sense -- these are not lefties. >> no. >> the nra puts the straight arm out there and says nothing. >> one reason joe biden was tasked with this is that barack obama, don't forget, back in 2008 showed a little distance -- >> ingloriously. >> these are people who cling to guns and their religion. he's not the guy to do this deal, joe biden is. the governor is right, when you get specific about things like high-capacity magazines, people want them limited. there's no question. in general, if you state it generally, people are confused because they know it's a constitutional right. but if you're specific, then the equation changes, and that's what the vice president is going

to try to do. >> ironically it's like pro-life and pro-gun. very ironic. it's a generalized statement. >> exactly. interestingly, originally joe biden was not going to report, was not going to make his case to the president until after the state of the union, until after -- excuse me, until after the inaugural address. i think they're moving up the schedule of this because i think the president is, in fact, going to feature it in -- he's going to mention it in the inaugural -- >> is this legacy material? >> this is legacy material. also, it's not money material. in other words, we're broke as a country. there's going to be a big fight over the debt. we're going to have another debt ceiling crisis and so forth. this is a cultural matter that he can deal with that is legacy material, that isn't about the budget. >> most things we have to argue about and fight about are zero. this program gets cut off funding, some soldiers don't get much money. in this case who gets punished if you have gun safety?

>> exactly. >> nobody does. >> the other thing is the campaign committees are worried about congressional candidates in red states. in other words, somebody like mitch mcconnell may be vulnerable in kentucky. why saddle -- but the fact is i think the president feels he's pushing a little bit on an open door here. >> yeah. >> and it is legacy material. he won re-election on -- one of only eight presidents to win two terms by 51% of the popular vote. what does he use that mandate for? also -- >> that's your question. when are you going to do what you got there to do? stop worrying about getting there again. >> the presidents don't always just follow public opinion, they have to shape public opinion. >> can i ask you -- okay. i'm a suburbanite city mouse. i generally have lived in suburban areas, but i don't know why you need a gun show. i mean, if you want to buy a gun, you go to a dealer. why do you have to have a show? why does it have to be a big hotel opens its doors to a bunch of gun salesmen and people -- >> well -- >> why do you have to have a gun show? >> far be it from me to comment in depth on gun culture, but i do think it's fun. gun shows are fun.

it's like auto shows. >> you walk out with -- >> if you have the universal background check that the governor is talking about, then fine. the problem with gun shows is they're used as a huge loophole to sell a lot of unregulated guns. that's the problem. >> so you walk in -- you go to a big hotel and you walk and look at all these great new guns and you say i think i want to buy that one for $500. what do you do to show you're not crazy, a criminal, or a fugitive? >> you don't have to do very much. that's the point. >> suppose adam lanza had gone to a gun show and bought everything -- >> all of his guns were legally bought -- >> by his mother. >> by his mother. again, that's what the governor is talking about. i think that's what joe biden is going to talk about. the problem that the gun advocates have, and i understand where david keene, who is the political adviser to the nra -- >> smart guy. >> brilliant guy -- long time

conservative, what they're telling themselves is we have to build a fence around the second amendment. that if we concede on anything, even something like this, then they're going to take up the guns. >> that's the old slippery slope argument at the heart of the nra membership, which is i think wrong. >> it may be wrong, but i'm telling you that's what they believe, and that's why they're taking the rejectionist line. what keene is saying, what lapierre is saying is they're going to work the congress and they're going to do everything within their power to defeat any piece of legislation that comes along. it's going to be a big battle for the president, and he better be ready to take it on. >> i think they're wrong. i think reasonable society makes reasonable decisions. thank you very much, howard fineman. i think everybody should get to vote on this, not just gun people. so far the gun people have written the gun laws. coming up, lessons not learned.

coming up, lessons not learned. let's see, the republicans lost the election because they lost women, latinos, and young people. what legislation have been introduced so far this year? defund planned parenthood, deny citizenship to people who are born here if their parents aren't here legally, a personhood amendment. check, check, check. they've insulted every group they need. as i said last night, keep it up, guys, you're doing great. why does barney frank want >> [ bleep ] you, america. >> [ bleep ] you, america. >> [ bleep ] you, america. >> that's in the "sideshow" tonight where it belongs. finally, let me finish with joe biden's common sense approach to gun safety. and this is "hardball," the place for politics. ♪ if loving you is wrong ♪ i don't wanna be right [ record scratch ] what?! it's not bad for you. it just tastes that way. [ female announcer ] honey nut cheerios cereal -- heart-healthy, whole grain oats.

you can't go wrong loving it. as expected this afternoon, president obama tapped jack lew to be the next secretary of the treasury. lew, a man i believe of good and strong values, currently is the

president's white house chief of staff. before that he was director of the office of management and budget. the president urged congress to confirm him quickly. >> jack has my complete trust. i know i'm not alone in that. in the words of one former senator, having lew on your team is the equivalent as a coach of having the luxury of putting somebody at almost any position and knowing he will do well, and i could not agree more. >> that man standing there, jack lew, looks exactly the same when he was 25 years old working next to me in tip o'neill's office, exactly the same. i don't believe it. lew's nomination signals the president is putting on the upcoming budget battles with congress. we'll be right back. for over 60,000 california foster children,

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not everyone can be a foster parent, but anyone can help a foster child. welcome back to "hardball." the 112th congress left office with a favorability rating lower than head lice apparently. you can thank the tea party for ensuring that it was also the least productive congress on record. so how are republicans kicking off the new legislative session

of congress? apparently by picking up right where they left off. as michele bachmann proudly boasted on twitter, quote, she introduced the first bill of the 113th congress to repeal obama care in its entirety. you might recall republicans have tried at least 33 times before this. those are efforts that have no chance of passing since the senate is controlled by the democrats, and the veto pen wielding president isn't likely to repeal his own health care bill. congresswoman bachmann is not alone picking up on old fights. in the first few days of the new congress, republicans have tried to re-engage in fights over anchor babies, defunding planned parenthood, and passing a personhood bill. in other words, here we go again. michael steele is the former chair of the republican national committee and an msnbc political analyst, and bob shrum is a democratic strategist. let's look at this one. here is michele bachmann, who might be fighting to repeat obama care, but john boehner concedes it's a losing battle. in an interview with abc after

the election, the speaker said the election settled the issue of obama care. i thought it was a reasonable statement by the speaker. let's listen. >> i think the election changes that. it's pretty clear that the president was re-elected, obama care is the law of the land. >> you know, somebody said on the show the other night something about a few bad apples spoiling the bunch, michael steele. you're laughing because -- i didn't think that was true. if you do get a couple bad apples, they're rotten, been around too long, and you put them in with a bunch of other apples, when you pick apples at the safeway, you look to make sure they haven't messed up the other apples, you have people in the republican party that want to go back to the gooey stuff that causes nothing but trouble. why attack it again? >> i agree with you. and your point about your fruit analogy there is bad apples can accelerate the spoiling of the good apples. and i think that's the point

here. look, you don't lead off this congress, i don't think, with those types of legislations. you lead it off with bills that are going to create jobs, that puts the president on a point to address spending. that's where the issue is -- >> that's what i said last night. i'm not selling your party on how to win elections. >> that's the sweet spot the party needs to get in. the speaker had it right. the election is over. the other side won. the american people have spoken. now let's govern, and how we want to govern on creating jobs and economic prosperity is the talking point. >> rotten apples can talk. last summer after mitt romney picked paul ryan as his running mate, ryan was awkwardly forced to try to answer questions about the difference between his views on abortion and romney's. take a listen. >> should abortions be available to women who are raped? >> well, look, i'm proud of my pro-life record, and i stand by my pro-life record in congress.

it's something i'm proud of, but mitt romney is the top of the ticket, and mitt romney will be president, and he will set the policy of the romney administration. >> well, you might recall ryan co-sponsored a personhood bill with todd akin in the past. well, guess what legislation ryan has signed onto again last week in this new congress? another personhood bill. it reads in part, the life of each human being begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent at which time every human being shall have all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood. here we are back again, bob shrum, to the 14th amendment rights, including property being accorded to the fertilized egg. it just seems to me an argument that gets very fundamentalist and causes nothing but trouble for the republicans in the suburbs and the cities, anywhere where people might not like this kind of talk. >> well, i think that's right. one thing paul ryan obviously learned from mitt romney was how to flip-flop. look, this is a really extreme measure. >> he's flopped back again. >> flip, flop, flip. it would outlaw all stem cell research, outlaw common forms of

birth control. it's so extreme the voters of mississippi rejected it in a popular referendum. paul ryan may believe this, but i also think his appraisal of the 2016 landscape in the republican primaries is it's not going to change much from 2012, there's going to be a purity litmus test. you have to pass that litmus test to be the nominee. so you think about those iowa caucuses, they're dominated by the religious right. you think about someone like chris christie who could run who says we have to be a party that compromises, and when michael steele was lieutenant governor of maryland, he was part of an administration that compromised, worked with democrats, and -- >> we know he's a good guy. >> but, look, that's what the country wants, and these folks don't get it. >> let's talk about the latino vote, which is really a community which is very much in play in the sense that "w," a very recent president, was very successful in that community. it obviously is not anchored, if you will, to one party. remember anchor babies, to use a term another way. steve king introduced a bill in

2011 to clarify, in his words, the 14th amendment. the amendment grants citizenship to anyone born -- it was written after the civil war for african-americans obviously. well, king argued it was not meant to include babies of illegal immigrants. take a look. >> anchor babies are babies that are born in the united states to an illegal mother, and the practice over the years has been to grant automatic citizenship to babies born on u.s. soil. they sneak into the united states, many of them, for the purposes of having the baby. they get the little birth certificate with their little feet prints on there, and then they stay here or go back to their home country and wait until that child comes of age, and then that child, they use that child to apply to bring in the family, the nuclear family, then the extended family. and it's out of control. >> you might expect something like that from the man who questioned whether barack obama's mom might have sent his birth announcement by telegram from kenya. king is at it again with anchor

babies. introduced a new bill with the statement the current practice of extending u.s. citizenship to hundreds of thousands of anchor babies must end because it creates a magnet for illegal immigration into our country. there's something about the way that guy talks that i don't like. he talks about having illegal mothers like having the baby was the illegal act and the little feet prints. you get the sense he might be prejudiced against latinos. >> i know steve well, and i don't get that sense from him, but to this point, chris, he -- that video makes the argument for the comprehensive immigration reform that everybody now knows we need to address, and this is going to be a part -- if we can get one, this is going to be a part of that conversation. you're not going to solve the immigration problems of this country by attacking -- >> why, while we have a. minute -- we just lost bob shrum technically. why doesn't your party do its bit? instead of calling for the removal or self-deportation of

12 million people, focus on teeth. putting teeth in -- >> i agree. >> let the democrats do the liberal stuff, you put the teeth in, and you all do your part, and we get an immigration bill. how about a work permit, something that works? >> i was at the donahue speech this morning -- >> he should be for it. >> absolutely. those voices are out there. >> you guys play the bad cop, the other guys play the good cop, you get it done. thank you, michael steele, and thank you, bob shrum, up in boston i think -- >> no, no, i'm out here in sunny southern california. >> good to have you back, bob. >> thank you. >> for giving that weather report. al roker. up next, he was already president of the world. now bill clinton has picked up another title. and this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ female announcer ] going to sleep may be easy, but when you wake up

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back to "hardball." now to the "sideshow." yesterday i told you about a silly concern that's popped up about jack lew being nominated for secretary of the treasury. his signature if confirmed. that, that's the signature that would end up at the bottom of our paper money. look at that thing. that can't be. at today's nomination ceremony president obama didn't let that topic of his crazy signature slide. >> i had never noticed jack's signature, and when this was highlighted yesterday in the press, i considered rescinding my offer to appoint him. jack assures me that he is going to work to make at least one letter legible in order not to debase our currency should he be confirmed as secretary of the treasury. >> well, there is some hope. tim geithner had a messy signature in his past, but on the bill it's completely legible. looks like alexander hamilton.

next, aig has thought better about suing the federal government over the terms of the 2008 bank bailout. yes, the same taxpayer funded bailout that brought them $200 billion and saved them from bankruptcy. anyway, before the news of the potential lawsuit, aig launched an ad campaign thanking taxpayers for the bailout money. in light of the planned lawsuit, conan o'brien offered an alternative. >> aig, we said we were going to turn it around, and we did. >> we're now leaner and focused on what we do best. >> a profit of more than $22 billion. >> we turned it around. >> [ bleep ] you, america. >> [ bleep ] you, america. >> [ bleep ] you, america. >> from all of us at aig, seriously america, go [ bleep ] yourselves. >> it's tough to see how they even toyed with the idea of a lawsuit against the same government that saved them from bankruptcy. next, if you're in congress and planning to oppose the next round of victims of hurricane

sandy, you best not have the title porker of the month on your resume. unfortunately, it's too late for kansas republican lynn jenkins, who posted this on facebook yesterday. i hope congress will devise a plan to directly help sandy victims that will be offset with spending reductions and be free of wasteful pork barrel spending. jenkins was one of 67 house republicans who voted against last week's sandy bill, but flashback to april 2009, jenkins scored the porker of the month award from the citizens against government waste. well, the group took jenkins to task for requesting earmarks for her own constituency, $2 million worth in a 2010 appropriations bill. $2 million in pork. finally, a big win for bill clinton, and it's not political. his daughter chelsea is already carrying on as a successful person in her own right, but all the same, bubba just scored the honor of father of the year from the national father's day council. a statement from the organization says with the profound generosity, leadership,

and tireless dedication to both his public office and many philanthropic organizations, president clinton exemplifies the attributes we celebrate through the father of the year award. i'm sure he's a great dad, by the way. up next, barney frank is out of congress, but he wants back in as a u.s. senator. barney frank joins us when we return. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

to graduate and they said you have to go to summer school. but that deal now means that february, march, and april will be among the most important months in american -- >> so you'd consider it? >> in fact, i'm not going to be coy -- it's not anything i've ever been good at -- i told the governor i would now like, frankly, to do that because i would like to be a part of that.

it's only a three-month period. i don't want to do anything more. i don't want to run again. >> the 32-year house of representatives veteran is the favorite choice of many progressives. both moveon.org and the progressive change campaign committee have begun online petitions to urge governor duvall patrick to pick him. and "the boston globe" backed him on monday. more than almost anyone now in the senate, frank knows where potential savings can be found. if frank were to play a role simply in framing the debate over budget cuts, he'd be making a greater contribution than most appointed senators make even in far longer terms. former congressman barney frank joins us now. you amaze me. i thought what you were going to be doing is what we do here after you left the congress, but there you are talking up a senate seat. >> i expect -- as recently as the last week of december, people said would you take the senate seat? i said, if you offer something,

it would be rude to the people, i'm hoping i wasn't offered it. i was sitting in the caucus and realizing it's going to be equivalent in some ways to the new deal. the debt limit issue comes up and the sequester. there are conservatives who are going to try to use that to cut social security, cut medicare. they're going to try and shift the cuts that we have said we're going to make out of the military, protect the military, keep that, in fact, even further inflated beyond what our national security needs are, and make cuts in the environment and housing and transportation, and i just believe that i'm better prepared having just done what i have done to do this. it's not that i'd be the best interim senator ever. just that in these particular circumstances with very complex issues as kind of a continuation, i'm there, and i believe it's very important for us to go after them, for example, on this phony, irresponsible issue on the debt limit and do defense, social

security, and medicare. the two most successful anti-poverty programs in history. at a time when people say we have too much inequality, the notion you would increase in equality is nuts, and further -- look, i had some unhappiness when i read about chuck hagel's remarks from 14 years ago, which i didn't remember, but now the question is he's a man who is going to help us withdraw from afghanistan and reduce the military. i'm very encouraged by that. my one criticism of the president was he wasn't going far enough in reducing the military. i think people now understand that it's either keeping troops in nato or cutting medicare, and i think the american people are on the side of medicare. >> if hagel gets confirmed, do you think you could help him do the job of reforming at the pentagon and saving some money? >> yes, i think -- well, in the first few months -- i won't be there long enough even if i get it. but the job there is to run interference for him. by the way, some basic politics,

you understand, chris, cutting existing weapons systems with all the web of contracts out there can be hard, but what you can do is not start new ones. it's easier to block projects that shouldn't be done going forward than to start them, and i certainly will be there. i hope he's going to continue to support the notion of an early withdrawal from afghanistan, not keep 20,000 troops there forever at a cost of billions, and finally i think it's time to re-examine a nuclear deterrent which we still maintain basically at the strength we needed to defeat a fully nuclear armed soviet union and the troops in europe. i misspoke when i said pull the troops out of nato. i want us to stay in nato but let the western european nations keep the troops in western europe. let's have a genuine cooperation, not a one-sided deal where america gives,

frankly, all our wealthy allies a free ride. >> do you think we can go in the direction we seem to be going? you follow this more than i do. the whole idea of drones and avoiding big commitments of ground troops but winning the wars by knocking out the bad guys with rockets going through their windows with their names on them. is that a good way for americans to fight the wars without people but with high-tech? >> no. a better way is not to fight wars we shouldn't fight. i was just reading today an article, i was a day or two behind in the paper, i was reading some foreign policy pundit saying, well, america has to figure out how can we control the situation in syria without putting boots on the ground. the answer is we can't control the situation in syria. i wish we could. but this notion that it is somehow america's responsibility, our opportunity, whatever you want to call it, to intervene in every crisis everywhere makes no sense, and i'm not an isolationist.

we should be doing more in economic international cooperation, helping haiti, fighting aids internationally, but there's a gross exaggeration of what we can do. this is not 1947, '48 when we were the sole survivor, so the answer is we should not be engaged militarily in nearly as many places, and let me just briefly, chris, we make this mistake. the military is great at keeping bad things from happening. but the military can't make good things happen. we have too often used our military to try to make good things happen in societies foreign to us, and it never works out. >> do you ever think through what we're talking about when we talk about countries like syria, libya, we say secretary clinton does this fine job of saying, we call on the side to compromise with the rebels. you're basically asking the guy to commit suicide. you're asking the guy to give up so the rebels can grab him, drag him through the streets, find him in a sewer, whatever. what does it mean when we say to

a government we don't like, we think you should give up. don't we have to have an alternative plan? gadhafi, we'll let you stay at sandals in the caribbean for the rest of your life. what are we asking them to do? assad is not giving up. >> first of all, chris, it's not up to us. we can express our opinion. this is part of this problem that it's somehow america's capability and responsibility to resolve these things. look, i wish that we could go into a lot of these places and make things work well. i wish we could bring democracy and peace, but i wish i could eat more and not gain weight, and i have found that when i act on unrealistic wishes, the results are not so good. the answer is we can voice our opinion. i guess what we ought to encourage a deal whereby people like that who are in power can leave, not because they're good people but because the alternative is them fighting to stay, but my basic point is that in any case, we haven't got a lot to say about it. and you have this notion -- well, look, here is my disagreement with president obama on this one issue because i think he does an extraordinarily good job and i'm very supportive. he says america is the indispensable nation. by which they mean we have to be everywhere there's trouble. we can't do it, we can't afford it anymore. it's not our obligation while wealthier nations are sitting

back. and given the resentment of america in a whole range of other things, we often wind up, despite good intentions, and i believe we often have done more harm than good. i don't want to be the indispensable nation. i think there are parts of the world that need to learn to dispense with us. >> don't retire, barney. i love it. you say what i think. congressman barney frank, retired so far. up next, the academy award nominations are out, but there's a political flavor among many of the nominees. we have jeffrey wright joining us and allen hughes of the new movie "broken city." i just saw it last night. and this is "hardball," the place for politics.

the two big political races of 2013 are the high profile governors races in new jersey and virginia. for a look at where those races stand, let's check the "hardball" scoreboard. in virginia terry mcauliffe has a five-point lead over the state's attorney general ken cuccinelli, 46% to 41%. that's good news for the dems. but in new jersey chris christie looks unbeatable. ten months to go, a new poll has christie with a 3 to 1 lead over the only democrat in the race so far. we'll be right back.

when i was elected mayor, this was a broken city. tell me things haven't changed. >> you know who i am? >> step by step i have been getting us fixed. >> it's all right. calm down, okay? >> tell me things haven't changed. you in my eyes, a hero. >> thank you. >> do you ever do any hunting? >> we're back. the now movie "broken city" uses a political backdrop to showcase the conflict between a retired policeman played by mark wahlberg and a corrupt mayor played by russell crowe. the mayor meets his match in a crusading police chief played by our guest tonight, jeffrey wright. >> you better start telling me something, explain to me what

you're doing at my crime scene. >> i was in the neighborhood. >> you were just in the neighborhood. carl andrews is dead. you think you're just going to [bleep] on him and walk away? >> i took a job, chief. i didn't ask questions. i gave him pictures and i walked away. >> you think -- >> pretty strong stuff. it's another movie in which a political setting makes for riveting drama, something reflected in today's oscar nominations out this morning led by movies like "lincoln," "argo" and "zero dark thirty." jeffrey white who stars in@broken city has appeared in two james bond films, the ides of march and the great basquiat. also joining me the director of "broken city" alan hughes. thank you so much for joining us. i was watching a morgan freeman movie where he played an irish cop a couple years ago and i noticed where they don't have to spell out the ethnicity of players anymore, actors, you just play the guy. he's the character. and that's it. it's fascinating to me as a guy

getting older. your thoughts. >> thanks for having me, chris. i agree with you. i frankly like to play with the ambiguiies of those things. i asked alan if we could change my character's name to hershkowitz. he was a guy who was maybe adopted by transit cops in staten island and grew up in a very, you know, different way than we might expect. i think, you know, what's really kind of wonderful about new york city particularly is that it's much more complex 234 terms of racial relations and demographics than we at times give it credit for. >> alan hughes, the director of this great film, let me ask you, i love all the elements. it's got all the stuff. russell crowe. and wahlberg looks like a cop, which i like.

and the beautiful rosetta johnson. a lot of characters. let me ask about the politics on our show. we've got a president re-elected. the second democrat in history to be elected with two majority votes. he and fdr. who would have thought? and not just legitimated in a squeaker but elected with majorities. re-elected with a majority. african-american. what's this mean? does this mean something big or does this mean something marginal? how do you see the potential for the next four years? >> i think it's huge. barack obama by winning the second time it symbolizes something that's greater than just being black or white or anything. you know, he just embodies where we're headed right now, and it's a big deal. it's a game changer. >> jeffrey, what do you want? what do you want for this president to make history? >> to make history? well -- >> if that's what you want. that's what i want. >> i actually had the opportunity to meet president

obama when he was a state senator. i think it was late 2003, maybe early 2004. first time i heard him speak. and at that time he said something that stayed with me. he said the democratic party needed to establish its core principles and stop reacting to the other guy, establish its principles and stick to them. and i think he has an opportunity now this term to really lead from that perspective, to -- you know, to really define who we are not just for the sake of the democratic party but to define who we are for the sake of the country but relative to core values that i think the american people approved of last november. so i think, you know, it's obviously an incredibly volatile time. there's some pretty volatile issues that are in the air. but he has the opportunity to show real skillful leadership at critical times and also i think, you know, put his capacity as a communicator to work to really do what i think he expected to be able to do at the start and that's to unify the country. difficult task. but that's the challenge before him. >> allen, let me talk to you

about character in movies and character in life. the president -- why do you like politicians as characters in movies? characters in drama. >> i just think they're, you know -- they're the most charismatic figures that -- you know, there's criminals. there's politicians. there's power, you know. and i think power draws out the most charismatic characters. and as they say, charisma gets away with everything. so that's what interests me, is these types of characters that use their charisma to manipulate those around them with even the social politics, when you think of the way people speak in codes. in this movie there's a scene with jeffrey at the beginning with russell crowe, the mayor, and he's the police chief, and they're talking about one thing on the surface but they're actually bartering for jeffrey's promotion in the subtext. and that's social politics. and the charismatic character that is the mayor. and you look at even jeffrey's character, it's very -- >> good luck -- >> it's interesting. >> i'm a movie nut. i love this movie. allen hughes, thank you.

jeffrey, i like all the stuff you do. especially the bond stuff. but basquiat. they love new puerto rico. thank you. the movie is called "broken city." it's got all the big characters, big stories. jeffrey wright and allen hughes. when we return let me finish with joe biden's common sense approach to gun safety. i think he's using it. you're watching "hardball," a place for politics. [ female announcer ] going to sleep may be easy, but when you wake up in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sleep medicine you don't take before bedtime. take it in bed only when you need it and have at least four hours left for sleep. do not take intermezzo if you have had an allergic reaction to drugs containing zolpidem, such as ambien. allergic reactions such as shortness of breath or swelling of your tongue or throat may occur and may be fatal. intermezzo should not be taken if you have taken another sleep medicine at bedtime or in the middle of the night

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let me finish tonight with this gun issue. joe biden's an ordinary fellow